Crash.net recently asked for your
MotoGP star of 2008, from a shortlist of ten riders provided, and the time has come to reveal the winner.
The shortlist contained the top seven riders in the world championship standings, the two other class rookies (
James Toseland and Alex de Angelis) and the rider outside the top seven with the best podium results (Toni Elias) - all of whom delivered at least two 'star' performances this season.
More than 54,000 votes were cast for the MotoGP poll. The average score given for each rider was used to produce the final ranking.
MotoGP Star of the Year - first place:
Name: Valentino Rossi
Team: Fiat Yamaha
Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1
Wins: 9
Podiums: 16
Pole Positions: 2
Fastest laps: 5
Championship points: 373
Championship position: 1st
It would have been a major upset if anyone other than Valentino Rossi had been voted your MotoGP star of the year, after a 2008 season in which the Italian legend bounced back from two successive title defeats in spectacular style.
Rossi won nine out of the 18 races to clinch his sixth MotoGP title at round 15 in Japan and has now won more premier-class races than any other rider in history, having beaten Giacomo Agostini's long-standing record of 68 at Indianapolis.
The Doctor made only one race mistake, falling on lap one at Assen, and was the only rider to score points in all 18 races - 16 of which he finished on the podium, during his first season with
Bridgestone tyres.
In terms of the title, Rossi's most significant win came during the US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca, when he brilliantly smothered
Casey Stoner's performance advantage to end the Australian's three-race win streak.
Stoner was visibly unsettled by the defeat and when the Ducati rider fell whilst leading Rossi at the next two races, Valentino's eighth world title became a case of 'when' not 'if'.
